Lizzo is being sued after allegedly pressuring and weight shaming her former dancers, according to a lawsuit obtained by USA TODAY.
Ron Zambrano, the attorney for the dancers, said in a release that the allegations against the “Good as Hell” singer are “stunning in nature.”
“How Lizzo and her management team treated their performers seems to go against everything Lizzo stands for publicly, while privately she weight-shames her dancers and demeans them in ways that are not only illegal but absolutely demoralizing,” Zambrano said.
Lizzo has yet to publicly respond to the allegations.
In the suit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on July 18, plaintiffs Crystal Williams, Arianna Davis and Noelle Rodriguez claim they were victims of sexual, racial and religious harassment, assault, false imprisonment and disability discrimination, in addition to other allegations.
Lizzo (born Melissa Viviane Jefferson), Big Grrrl Big Touring, Inc., along with Shirlene Quigley, who is Lizzo’s dance team captain and judge on her Amazon series “Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls,” are named as defendants, though not all the allegations pertain to each of them.
USA TODAY has reached out to Lizzo and Quigley’s representatives for comment.
Why is Lizzo getting sued by former dancers Crystal Williams, Arianna Davis and Noelle Rodriguez?
Lizzo is facing a number of allegations from her former dance team members.
The lawsuit details a night out in Amsterdam in February during which the dancers and Lizzo visited a club in the Red Light District called Bananenbar, a location at which patrons are allowed to interact with nude performers. There, the suit alleges, Davis was pressured into interacting with a performer after repeatedly insinuating she didn’t want to. Lizzo also coerced a security guard to take off his pants on stage, the suit alleges.
Elsewhere in the suit, the “Special” singer is accused of having a toxic work environment. In a few instances, Lizzo allegedly accused dancers of “not performing up to par and repeatedly accused the dancers of drinking alcohol before shows even though the dance cast had never partaken in such a practice.”
This led to several dancers being required to reaudition for their spots under “brutal” criteria with the possibility of firing, per the suit.
Lizzo is also accused of questioning Davis’ commitment to the tour, which she believed was “thinly veiled concerns about (her) weight gain, which Lizzo had previously called attention to after noticing it at the South by Southwest music festival.”
Williams said she was wrongfully terminated in April under the guise of “budget cuts,” Davis alleged she was fired after recording Lizzo’s performance notes – which she said she did as a result of a disability that occasionally makes her disoriented – and Rodriguez resigned following Davis’ termination.
Rodriguez alleged that during her resignation she “feared Lizzo intended to hit her and would have done so if one of the other dancers had not intervened.”
Lizzo’s dance team captain Shirlene Quigley accused of berating dancers
Quigley is accused in the lawsuit of simultaneously berating the dancers “who engaged in pre-marital sex” based on her religious views and also acting out sex acts and making “sexually explicit comments.”
In the suit, Davis says Quigley “kept tabs” on her virginity and Rodriguez claims she was “singled out” by the team captain for being a “non-believer.”
The dance team captain is also accused of screaming at Davis and Rodriguez following their respective firing and resignation.
What is Big Grrrls Big Tour accused of?
Lizzo’s production company Big Grrrls Big Tour is accused of not acting with regard to complaints made by the dancers about treatment and harassment. They are also accused by the plaintiffs of perpetuating a toxic work environment.
“BGBT management treated the Black members of the dance team differently than other members. BGBT’s management team consisted almost entirely of white Europeans who often accused the Black members of the dance team of being lazy, unprofessional, and having bad attitudes,” the plaintiffs write in the lawsuit. “Not only do these words ring familiar as tropes used to disparage and discourage Black women from advocating for themselves, but the same accusations were not levied against dancers who are not Black.”
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The dancers also claim that the “Special” singer “strongly preferred the dance cast not take on other jobs” between her tours, “meaning Plaintiffs would not be paid during the break but should not be taking on other jobs either.”
“Due to BGBT’s soft prohibition on Plaintiffs and their team members taking on other jobs, they became wholly financially dependent on the income they received for their performances on ‘The Special Tour,'” the lawsuit alleges.
The dancers eventually bargained for a retainer of 50% of their weekly tour rate. Requests for retainer fees led to BGBT management lashing out at dancers, the suit alleges.
The plaintiffs are requesting a jury trial.
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